The Ankh
by Snuffy5
Summary: After saving the Grim Reaper's life, Dib recieves a mysterioius ankh necklace. Whenever he takes it off, the Grim Reaper himself will come, and destroy all that harm Dib. How will this affect Zim?


The Ankh  
  
An Invader Zim Fan Fiction by Rosie Hamill  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Invader Zim. Pah! And you think that makes a difference?  
  
(>BEGIN   
Dib turned over roughly in his bed. He couldn't get to sleep. Not after what had happened just an hour ago. He fingered the ankh around his neck subconsciously, reenacting the scene in his mind. It was so vivid...  
  
_Swinging back and forth on the playset, he sighed. Another boring day. He heard a rustle from behind the fence. He looked up. Another rustle followed by a groan, as if strained by a large burden. Blinking a few times, he clambered over the fence and fell catlike to his feet. Standing before him was what seemed to be a skeleton, in a long flowing black robe with a hood. He had a large scythe in his hand, but was unable to use it, as he was being held back by what looked like a large banshee with long flowing green hair. Dib stared in amazement. Two of the things he'd never thought he'd see... before his very eyes!  
  
"The Grim Reaper?" Dib said subconsciously. He knew that he seemed to be weak, and if given enough time, the banshee would surely kill him. The black-haired boy took this into careful consideration. If the Grim Reaper was destroyed, no one would ever die again. But... would that be a good thing?  
  
"HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Dib hit the banshee as hard as he could across the face, knowing that was a stupid move, because a banshee could easily overpower him with one blow. To his astonishment, the banshee cried out in pain. The spot on her cheek where he had hit her began to bubble, as if in a stove! Letting out a howl of utmost pain, the banshee fell to the ground. She spread her arms and jumped off into whatever awaited her.  
  
Dib blinked a few times. What had he just done? The Grim Reaper looked up at him from the ground. "You... I owe you my life."  
  
Staggering backward at his voice, Dib stared. His voice was cold, it chilled you right down to the bone. "M-me?"  
  
"I was very weak. Normally, I can fight off banshees. But I couldn't this time."  
  
Dib was speechless. "What... what did I do that made her go away?"  
  
"You are still pure, young Dib. Use this to your advantage."  
  
"How do you know my name?"  
  
He didn't answer. Instead, he handed him an ankh on a silver chain, which dangled off the edge of his bone hand. "Take this."  
  
Cautiously, he took the ankh off his hand. "Put it on." The Grim Reaper continued, gesturing him to do so. He slipped the ankh over his head and around his neck, feeling a strange warmth at the touch of it to his skin.  
  
"Whenever you need me, take off the ankh. I will come."  
  
Dib had a million questions to ask. Nothing came out of his mouth.  
  
"Call me and I _will_ come."_  
  
He let out a shaky breath. _all me and I will come._ The words froze in his memory like ice. Maybe what he saw was an illusion... a trick of the light? But how did he get the ankh? Contemplating this for hours, he soon fell asleep.  
  
  
  
  
  
Bzzz. Bzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Dib slammed his fist on the alarm clock aggressively, reaching over to his bedside table and putting on his glasses. 'It was all a dream.' Dib thought, 'I dreamt that I saved the Grim Reaper form a banshee and he gave me the ankh. When I look at my chest, there will be no ankh.'  
  
Cracking open his eyes and looking down at his chest, his eyes widened. There it was! The same ankh the Grim Reaper had given him! It wasn't a dream after all! He suddenly felt very energized. He ran to his dresser and put on his same t-shirt and black jeans, shoes, and of course, his trench coat. Racing downstairs to the kitchen, he saw Gaz playing her game slave.  
  
Dib paused. If he told her about the ankh and the Grim Reaper, would she believe him? Would she even care? Dib decided not to tell her about last night. Calmly, he stepped into the kitchen and sat down in his usual chair.  
  
"'Morning, Gaz." Dib said, taking a piece of toast.  
  
Gaz grumbled in affirmation, turning away and continuing to play her Game Slave. He sighed. Another day.  
  
  
  
  
  
Dib entered the school grounds, his ankh bouncing on his chest with each step he took into the dismal hallway. He came to his locker and put in the same code he did every other day. As he was about to take out his Social Studies book for 1st period, the locker door suddenly slammed and he was pressed against it.  
  
A big kid, about 5 foot 8, grabbed his shirt collar roughly. "Gimme your lunch money, kid." He snarled, pressing him harder against the green locker.  
  
If the kid hadn't been pressing him so hard against the locker, he might of smart-mouthed him a little. But Dib seemed to be loosing the feeling in his neck, which made things considerably more difficult. The guy saw his ankh. "What do we have here?" the kid said menacingly, grabbing his ankh.  
  
"Keep your grimy hands off it!" Dib managed to choke out, struggling.  
  
"Oh, a smarty-pants, are we? Well maybe I'll just take it!" He ripped the ankh off his neck. A large burst of gray smoke forced him to stop, making the ankh fall to the tiled floor with a clatter.  
  
A cold, hard voice rang through the halls. "You called me, Dib?" The Grim Reaper's lean figure came into view. Dib coughed as the Grim Reaper eyed the boys suspiciously. "Hmm... say no more." He took out his scythe.  
  
The kid automatically dropped him, staggering backward. "T-the Grim R-reaper!" He said, a look of pure fear on his face. Not wasting any more time, the boy took off in a hurry. The Grim Reaper smiled evilly.  
  
"If you need me again," he said, "please don't hesitate to ask." He vanished in a poof of smoke.  
  
Dib, who was on his knees on the floor, sat there for a minute, trying to process what had just happened. He took the ankh and latched around his neck again. Shakily, he went to class.  
  
  
  
  
  
It was 5th period, which meant it was Science. This was one of the three periods he had with Zim. Oooh... how he loathed Zim. That no-good-lousy-scum-coated-pond-creature! How he wished he could bury him in a hole somewhere, he thought fiercely, slamming his locker and making his way to the science lab.  
  
He entered the room, sitting down at his desk exchanging his usual death glare with Zim, who just shot him one right back. 'Dang...' Dib thought, opening his book to the page assigned on the board, 'If looks could kill...'  
  
About 10 minutes into the lesson, a piece of triangular-shaped paper fell on his desk with a soft "click." Opening the note, he recognized the chicken-scratch handwriting that was Zim's. On it, it read:  
  
Dib, meet me after school today, at the park at 4, where we settle this once and for all. -Zim  
  
Dib clenched the note in his fist in rage. That good-for-nothing... fine. If he wanted to settle it this way, he'd settle it that way. He flipped the page in his notebook furiously, his eyebrows furrowed. As the bell rang to go to 6th period, he roughly grabbed his books and headed for the door angrily, planning the entire fight out in his mind. He chuckled darkly to himself as he saw Zim in his mind's eye, begging for mercy. Striding down the halls, he went off to lunch in a hurry.  
  
He walked in the open doors of the cafeteria and got in the line. He got in line and looked at the lunch lady in disgust as she plopped a lumpy pile of something that smelled like rotting mashed potatoes on his plate.  
  
(>END OF CHAPTER ONE   
So? So? what do you think? ^__^;; please excuse the... :ahem ahem: weird storyline... I did it when I was high off caffine... anyway. PLEEZ R/R! 


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